Julie Bishop Just Put Tony Abbott In His Place, And It's About Time

Here at whimn.com.au, we are big Julie Bishop fans. Not only because she is highly educated, charming as hell and gracious to boot, but because she has proven time and time again, she can hold her own in a room full of men, who frankly like the sound of their own voices.

And so today comes the news of her recent slap down of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott and to be honest, we would expect nothing less of our favourite foreign affairs minister.

By way of background, over the last few days, Abbott has been calling for the Coalition government to withdraw from the Paris climate deal, which indeed he agreed to when he was in charge three years earlier.

Paris Agreement wasn’t an 'aspiration', it was a commitment: Bishop8:14

Julie Bishop is adamant Australia will not be pulling out of the Paris Agreement, despite Tony Abbott’s calls for the country to do so.
The Foreign Minister says the climate deal was a commitment, and has dismissed claims by the former Prime Minister that the targets set by the agreement were merely ‘aspirational’ when the deal was signed in 2015.
Ms Bishop told Sky News that in order for Australia to be seen as a reliable and trusted global partner that plays by the rules, international agreements must be adhered to.
Image: Kym Smith / News Corp Australia

But on Tuesday night he appeared to have changed his tune. Speaking to a climate change sceptic group, Mr Abbott urged Australia to follow in the footsteps of US president Donald Trump and pull out of the 2015 agreement.

Talking to Sky News, he said withdrawing would be "the best thing" because of the "economic damage that renewable energy in particular would do to our power system and to our industries".

Confusing yes, given at the time he said Australia's pledge struck "the right balance between our economic and environmental responsibilities".

Bishop thought so too. And she was having none of it. When asked about the comments, she told Sky News yesterday: "Australia plays by the rules - if we sign an agreement we stick to an agreement."

Abbott had also told the Australian Environment Foundation on Tuesday he would not have signed the agreement if the US had not, suggesting the target to reduce 2005 level emissions by 26 to 28% by 2030 were intended to be aspirational rather than binding.

However, Bishop said this was not the case and that Australia signed on to the agreement knowing it would be "held to account" to the commitment.

The targets had been agreed upon by the prime minister, cabinet and party room, she added.